Jerry Kill abruptly retired Wednesday, and members of a strong Minnesota recruiting class expressed surprise as the news began to circulate.
"I'm extremely shocked -- big-time," four-star OL recruit Sean Foster told ESPN. "Coach Kill is a great guy and he was a part of the reason why I committed to Minnesota, so I am extremely saddened by the news."
Foster said the news would not impact his commitment, however. "No, I am committed to Minnesota because of everyone who was there for my family and me on my visit. You don't usually see coaches and my father have the kind of talks they did. So I won't leave my family up in Minnesota."
ESPN 300 LB commit Carter Coughlin (ranked No. 271) tweeted about the matter:
Coach Kill is an incredible man, and I would have loved to play under his direction. But we committed to a staff and to a team.〽️ #TheEmpire
— Carter Coughlin † (@Cmoe34) October 28, 2015Three-star ATH commit Tony Poljan said: "My prayers are with Coach Kill and his family. Go Gophers."